Last week, I sat in on Refuse Fascism’s organizing call for their upcoming four days of protest (July 1–4). Don’t be fooled by the name—Refuse Fascism isn’t some grassroots movement. It’s a front for the Revolutionary Communist Party, funded by the Alliance for Global Justice (yes, the same group that pushed $54.2 million in 2020 to fuel radical unrest).

The playbook is simple: appear just mainstream enough to lure in the curious—then radicalize them. The real mission? Mass mobilization against anyone to the right of Bernie Sanders. President Trump is just the most convenient “fascist” to rally against.

Buckle up—this thread is a wild, an often comical tour through Sunsara Taylor’s latest attempt to normalize Communism.🧵 This exchange came near the end of the call, but it was one of the most revealing moments—exposing just how little transparency there is behind this group as it works to mobilize people under a vague anti-fascist banner.

For what it’s worth, I actually signed up through Bluesky—clearly part of their strategy to target disaffected leftists who fled Twitter.

When asked directly whether she was anti-democracy, Sunsara Taylor responded not with denial, but deflection—accusing critics of “red-baiting” and “serving fascism.”

She says:

“Even if I was 100% against democracy… that should still not be a reason for you to not work with Refuse Fascism.”

Let that sink in.

Taylor then goes on to clarify that she’s not a member of the Revolutionary Communist Party—just an “active revcom” and a follower of Bob Avakian, whom she calls the “architect of the new communism.” She explicitly identifies as a revolutionary communist. Important to note that Refuse Fascism always partially works out of the Revolution Communist Party "Revolution Books."

She defends working across ideological lines, not because she supports democracy, but because she sees mass mobilization as a means to unseat the existing system, not reform it.

This is the woman organizing mass protests in the name of “saving democracy.”

🔥 "Legal Counterinsurgency & Repression of the Left"

Last week, a panel of radical activists and "legal advocates" gathered to frame the global enforcement of anti-terror laws as nothing more than “fascist lawfare” used to repress “anti-colonial, anti-Zionist, and anti-imperialist resistance.” Their words speak volumes:

“They don’t want our movements taking over buildings... occupying places… creating independent, liberated spaces.”
“We’re still being found not guilty by juries for smashing up Israeli weapons factories…”
"Samidoun was not a threat to the U.S. government in any way."
“Hamas represents Palestinian dignity. If it didn’t exist, the Palestinian people would invent it.”
“The United States is an illegitimate state.”
“Cops are the ruling elites’ brown shirts.”

Moderated and co-sponsored by figures tied to the National Lawyers Guild, CUNY4Palestine, and The Right to Reject Zionism Coalition, the event wasn’t subtle—it was a manifesto of open defiance toward Western law, democratic process, and liberal norms. 🧵 Whether it’s Hamas or the New People’s Army—the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines—this panel plays footsie with well-established, designated terrorist organizations. As groups like Samidoun are increasingly recognized as terrorist fronts, let’s be clear from the outset:

We’re not just dealing with fringe activists—we’re dealing with ideological revisionists openly aligning themselves with terrorist movements under the banner of “anti-colonial resistance.” That’s the framework they’re selling. And the more you listen, the clearer it becomes: this isn't about liberation. It's about legitimizing violent revolution.

I’ll be jumping around quite a bit in this Zoom webinar — starting local, then working outward. Since this is an international call, I’m front-loading the parts Americans most need to see. Feel free to skip around — in fact, I encourage it.

If I had to give people homework, I’d say: watch Kamau Franklin and Max Geller. They’re two of the clearest voices in this discussion — not just in what they say, but in what they openly admit.

I’ve covered many of these figures and "movements" before, so if you want more context, feel free to check out my earlier reporting.

BREAKING: National Students for Justice in Palestine have released a statement on the bombing of Iranian nuclear sites — and it’s extreme.

They call for the end of America, defend Iran’s “right” to nuclear weapons, and accuse the U.S. of being a malicious propagandist.

Full Statement below 🧵

Reposting this. The original—posted March 12, 2025—got locked thanks to coordinated fake reports. Funny how easy it is to silence something

Some of Mahmoud Khalil's lawyers are from CUNY CLEAR. If only someone had been recording them for the past few years. Oh wait, that person was me.

Here is one of Mahmoud Khalil's lawyers, Shazza Abboushi Dallal, from a CUNY CLEAR training that I snuck into and recorded.

"Another question: what if somebody just pretends complete ignorance to Hamas, don't know what you're talking about.

So I think this question is really like Yeah, I, I would answer the same way. I mean, first of all, saying I don't know when you do know, or feigning ignorance when that's not the reality, could be construed as a misrepresentation or a lie, and you find yourself in the sort of situation that you wanna avoid that we were speaking about earlier of criminal and potential immigration consequences flowing.

And that's why, you know, silence is just, is better. Better and more protective for you."

I can't tell you how many of these sorts of trainings I have attended where legal clinics like CUNY CLEAR urged foreign student activists to be smarter about what they said publicly. They knew this day could come one day. It is here now. The Legal Rights teach-in where these videos came from can be found here, and I think many would be served in watching it. You will realize quite quickly that Khalil has most certainly violated immigration law and the terms of his residency here in the United States.

"We want to make sure you know [about things that] will create risks for you if you're not a citizen, so that's inciting, advocating, or declaring public approval or support for terrorist activity..."

Teach-in ➡️x.com/thestustustudi…

Angie Marie, one of the more militant voices in the March to Gaza convoy — who has celebrated political violence and dismissed the Capital Jewish Museum assassination as a "false flag" — posted a tearful video announcing she’s quitting the mission and heading home.

“I’m just not in a mentally good place,” she said, breaking down after days of tension in Egypt. “This has been scary… an emotional roller coaster.”

After years of glorifying violence — including cheering the attempted assassination of Donald Trump — she now says she "did not come here to fight with Egypt" and is stepping aside to let others carry on.

For someone who always claimed she wanted all the smoke, it turns out she couldn’t handle the fire. Here is her commentary about the Capital Jewish Museum shooting in D.C.

"Even if this was true, I would say like good. Anybody associated with the Israeli government should be worried and in fear of their lives.”

https://x.com/thestustustudio/status/1925659304595509595

Last night, I attended the ACLU’s Know Your Rights training ahead of Saturday’s so-called “No Kings Day” protest.

While the event claimed to be rooted in nonviolence, much of the rhetoric told a different story. There was heavy emphasis on “risk,” evading warrants, pepper spray grenades, and counter-surveillance tactics—all under the thin veneer of civil liberties education. At times, it felt less like a training for peaceful protest and more like a how-to for militant activists looking to sidestep law enforcement.

The political bias was hard to miss. Organizers referred to the Army’s 250th anniversary parade as a “Trump military parade”, framing it as a dystopian show of force. They didn’t shy away from legally gray areas either—encouraging tactics for spreading information about ICE raids that risk veering into obstruction of justice.

Here’s a short supercut from the training. Watch for yourself! Noticed Attiya Latif had "she/they" in her Zoom display name, though she didn’t mention it when introducing herself. Interesting background—she’s worked with Amnesty International and CAIR.

🚨 This video was leaked to me.

It features SUPER—the same University of Washington student group that occupied the engineering building, caused over $1M in damage, and lit dumpster fires to create campus chaos—now hosting a campus event praising Hamas, Hezbollah, and the October 7 attacks.

“Armed struggle is a scientific necessity.”

“Colonialism will only yield when confronted with greater violence.”

“These are not names to be afraid of: Hamas. Islamic Jihad. The PFLP. Hezbollah.”

This was Thursday, June 5, 2025. Do they sound like they’re slowing down—or trying to radicalize others?🧵 The event begins with logistical “housekeeping” and a content warning, immediately setting a self-styled activist tone. Attendees are instructed to mask indoors “to keep each other safe,” and COVID protocols are noted. Then comes a familiar phrase:

“Some of the content may be triggering. Please make sure to take care of your needs... No one’s gonna judge you.”

SUPER then lays out the agenda after introducing who they are, which includes a glorification of October 7 and a session explicitly titled “Armed Resistance as a Scientific Necessity.”

“We want to talk about Al-Aqsa Flood... and why we support Al-Aqsa Flood as a day of decolonization and liberation—and as a fundamental turning point within the world's history.”

“We’re here to talk about armed resistance as a necessity, historical, determined part of struggles for liberation.”

The rest of the night promised discussions on “Western propaganda,” the “genocidal goals of Israel,” and the “wins” of Palestinian and regional armed groups.

Friendly reminder: @ucsantabarbara hosted the End of Empire and the Future of Freedom conference, where a parade of unhinged social media “influencers” took the mic—like the now-infamous Guy Christensen:

“People want to police the way Palestinians resist. Do you condemn Hamas? I’m not one to judge. They have the right to resist violently!”

(Video from November 2024) @ucsantabarbara Found the original post. You already know I stay tracking these anti-American, anti-civilization lunatics.

https://x.com/thestustustudio/status/1853821642503274742

“After white supremacist, capitalist, ableist patriarchy—like get rid of that, we’ll probably be fine.”

I attended @UCBerkeley’s Sheroes in Leadership panel featuring top DEI staff.

If this is what passes for leadership, maybe it’s time to defund Berkeley. The panelists aren’t fringe voices — they hold real power and influence:

Ché L. Abram – Chief of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging, UC Berkeley School of Public Health

Ding-Jo Currie, Ph.D. – Distinguished Faculty in Higher Ed Leadership at CSU Fullerton and member of UC Berkeley’s Executive Leadership Academy Advisory Board

Amber Johnson, Ph.D. – Assistant Vice Chancellor & Chief of Staff, UC Berkeley Division of Equity & Inclusion

Currie is the outlier here — more old-school. Her background is rooted in fostering multiculturalism, which I’d argue is fundamentally different from today’s DEI ideology. Still, she seems committed to the broader project, even as it’s taken on a far more radical tone.

I attended the AAUP All-Member Meeting on May Day to get a clearer sense of the national agenda. What I saw was a coordinated push to escalate on multiple fronts—through disruption, summer direct-action trainings, and broader coalition-building.

“We have to escalate our tactics… Arguments alone will not win. We have to meet force with force.”

“We need to make the actions more disruptive—so it’s not business as usual.”

In the lead-up to the meeting, I’d read an AAUP letter from the University of Virginia, authored by Ashon Crawley, that invoked everything from “genocide” in Gaza to sweeping claims that the university system itself is white supremacy—and even dismissed “intellectual diversity” as a right-wing conspiracy. The local chapter was clearly radical. But was the national organization any different?

Had the AAUP gone off the rails at both the local and national levels? As usual, I had to see it for myself… At the May Day All-Member Meeting, AAUP President Todd Wolfson made it crystal clear: the organization is no longer focused on defending academic freedom in any neutral or traditional sense. It’s now openly embracing street-level activism, political confrontation, and radical organizing.

“There’s a narrative fight we need to take on. But then the last fight—and the fight I really want to lean into right now—is the fight in the streets.”

“Arguments alone will not win. We have to meet force with force.”

Rather than championing scholarship or viewpoint diversity, Wolfson touted protest actions and a growing activist base:

“We think that we have grown by about 25% of membership.”

“We had an action on the 19th of February, another in DC on the 25th of February, an action on the 8th of April, a powerful culminating action on the 17th of April…”

But even coordinated days of protest aren’t enough for this new AAUP:

“Days of action aren't enough. They also aren't the solution. We need to figure out what comes next.”

This isn’t just mission drift—it’s a full-on redefinition of what AAUP stands for. What was once a defender of academic freedom is now organizing for “force” in the streets.

Students at @Occidental College have launched a hunger strike, accusing Occidental of “profiting off genocide” and demanding actions like protections for international students.

"We’re gonna be here all week, two weeks, three weeks — till the end of the semester if we have to.” Ten students have joined the hunger strike at Occidental. The school will likely have to notify their families — even if, like many campus protests, this turns into a rotating “hunger strike,” which is performative at best.

These things tend to fizzle fast, but Oxy has to treat it seriously.

Stick around to see what their actual demands are.

BREAKING: Momodou Taal, one of Cornell's most infamous activists, has opted to leave the country and has "self-deported himself."

"Today I took the decision to leave the United States, free and with my head held high..." More of his statement which is overall just a deranged rant...

On March 26, 2025, UVA students walked out of class to protest in support of Mahmoud Khalil and to demand that the University of Virginia protect students from ICE and the threat of deportation. This “walkout” protest also focused on recent decisions made by the Board of Visitors to end DEI initiatives and to stop providing transgender healthcare for minors at UVA Health.

This thread will take some unexpected turns as we explore the origin story of a UVA Law professor who, as a student radical at Yale, was arrested by the Secret Service at the RNC for rushing Dick Cheney and later pursued an anarcho-folk music career. We’ll also delve into the growing grievance culture among UVA students and more!

Let’s get started! 🧵 Professor Thomas Frampton begins by acknowledging the presence of approximately 150 UVA law students and introduces himself. I have a fellow FOIA Warrior investigating whether he canceled class to be at this protest, which I would see as failure to uphold his academic duties.

“My name is Thomas Frampton. I'm a professor at UVA School of Law, and I'm honored and proud to be joining all of you here today.”

He then offers a brief apology for his discomfort speaking at a rally, saying, "I apologize. I'm much more comfortable in front of a lectern than in front of a large rally." Frampton shares that he has been asked to speak about Mahmoud Khalil's case and the legal framework surrounding it, setting the stage for his discussion.

Frampton is not uncomfortable speaking before crowds. He was a one-time member of the Riot Folk Collective. In their own words, “The Riot Folk collective is a group of radical musicians trying to make folk a threat again.”

How about a brief detour for just one tweet before we get back to UVA? As always, feel free to skip around; my feelings won’t be hurt.

On March 19, 2025, I attended the George Mason University Faculty Senate meeting to gain insight into the current campus climate.

Although one GMU student had already been arrested for planning a mass casualty attack on the Israeli consulate in New York and a December raid of a student residence tied to two leaders of GMU’s chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine had uncovered firearms, ammunition, terrorist flags, and a sign reading "Death to Jews," the Faculty Senate expressed frustration over the university’s board of visitors adopting an anti-Semitism policy aligned with the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of anti-Semitism.

Many professors also voiced concerns about the Trump administration and the fact that George Mason had been named that week as one of sixty other schools being investigated for anti-Semitism.

Despite this, it was a joy to watch President Gregory Washington speak on everything from free speech to academic freedom. However, it was clear that many faculty members were uneasy with recent decisions by GMU’s Board of Visitors and in this meeting they even adopted a policy to delete Zoom recordings of the faculty senate after the minutes had been composed to avoid leaving a record of comments (which likely violates Virginia’s FOIA laws). Even President Gregory Washington seemed aware of the charged atmosphere, acknowledging offensive remarks directed toward him by certain Senate members since October 7th.

As I reflect on the meeting, I’m left with mixed feelings. President Washington's leadership and ability to balance the expectations of faculty and the Board is admirable. Needless to say, I was just stunned at the defiance from some of the professors and their willingness to pretty much go to bat for what I see as a terrorist cell. Even President Washington alluded to the fact that the raided house held more horrors than what was revealed by police.

I'd be curious to hear your thoughts on this meeting and the ongoing debate at GMU. 🧵 Heads up, this thread is going to be quite long, so feel free to skip around. I am also going to be front loading what I feel is most important.

Alexander Monea began by acknowledging President Washington’s leadership during challenging times, referencing both the COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing political turbulence. Washington humorously responded, "I'm a crisis president."

Monea raised concerns about George Mason being included on a list of universities under scrutiny by the Trump administration for anti-Semitism. This followed the board’s recent adoption of a “controversial” anti-Semitism policy. (Really just asking admin to consider IHRA definition of anti-Semitism when investigating complaints) Monea expressed concern, referencing Columbia University’s situation where resources were withheld and concessions made due to similar issues.

Washington clarified that George Mason is in a different situation compared to many universities on the list. "We didn’t have encampments, we didn’t have occupation of buildings… our protests, for the most part, were activities that in my opinion were protected directly by the First Amendment."

"We were under the original slate of institutions that were investigated after October 7th for anti-Semitic activity."

GMU was never had violations under this investigation, which started under the previous administration. Washington shared that GMU had submitted a response to the investigation a year ago, highlighting new initiatives and outcomes since the initial investigation. He emphasized that despite no response from the federal government yet, GMU had proactively updated and resubmitted their response.

All of this sounds good, but Washington made no mention of the one student who was planning a terrorist attack and the 2 SJP leaders who had their home raided until he was point blank asked.

Students for Justice in Palestine at Virginia Tech are hosting a three-day sit-in to commemorate the anniversary of the Virginia Tech Encampment and to celebrate the "powerful moments" that resulted in 82 arrests.

SJP asserts that this is a registered event and guarantees that there will be "no risk in participating."

"So come, connect, rejoice, and stand in unwavering support for Palestine. Liberation is built in community. We’ll see you on the lawn."

Be sure to check out all my previous reporting below on the Virginia Tech Encampment 🧵
The encampment sprang up and listed their demands.

https://x.com/thestustustudio/status/1783850135568404953

BREAKING: A video of the arrest of Rumeysa Ozturk has been released. The Tufts graduate student was arrested by ICE yesterday in connection with her role as an SJP organizer at Tufts University.

Stick around for my past coverage of Tufts SJP 🧵 Right off the bat, I want to dispel any notions that Tufts SJP is just a bunch of anti-war student activists. Here is one of their encampment teach-ins on the "Resistance in South Lebanon."

https://x.com/thestustustudio/status/1786159375666540815

On March 13th, Weill Cornell Medicine, the medical school of Cornell University, hosted the University of Washington's Professor Elle Lett for a talk titled "The Relevance of 'Intersectionality' to Medical Training in the Anti-DEI Era."

This talk has me at a loss for words, but the video will speak for itself. I'm going to neutrally summarize the talk in this thread and will interject my opinion on a few key matters.

One thing I will admit is this, I often walk away from talks like this thinking to myself, "Are we training doctors or are we prioritizing ideology?" 🧵 Nick, a 3rd year MD PhD student and part of the QUIS Queer initiative for physician scientists board introduced Professor Lett.

"Dr. Elle Lett is a Black transgender statistician, epidemiologist, and physician in training. Through her work, she studies how to measure and mitigate the impacts of discrimination on people's health, specifically focusing on population health for trans people of color, police violence as a manifestation of structural racism, and algorithmic bias."

Nick also details Dr. Lett's academic roles and future career trajectory:

"She serves as a clinical assistant professor of Health Systems and Population Health at the University of Washington School of Public Health, scholar in residence at the school's Center for Anti-racism, and associate editor for the Health Equity Journal. After completing medical school this year, she will start residency in emergency medicine."

Last week @GlennYoungkin did a media circuit declaring that "DEI is done at the University of Virginia." If that were the case, there wouldn't be a private workshop and seminar on "Decolonizing Your Syllabus" and "Seeing the Unseen: Identifying and Unlearning Colonial Paradigms in Higher Education" which is happening this Friday at UVA.

What does Decolonial thought look like? Here are three professors, all from Virginia's Top 3 Public Universities, discussing Decolonial Theory.

Meet the University of Virginia's Tiffany King, Virginia Tech's Bikrum Gill, and William & Mary's Stephen Sheehi. Do these professors sound like educators or radicals hellbent on destroying America?

"In the moment that you grab the gun like Fanon says, you're no longer oppressed, you're now free. How do we teach that in the class? Just to say that in the class, my students' heads explode. Right? To tell them about violence, you know, as a revolutionary tool, as sometimes a revolutionary essential."

"We actually need to crash the US settler state"

"We must stand with the armed resistance and work right now to end this impunity by disrupting the flow of weapons to Zionist cause. The armed resistance will defeat Zionism if it was open battlefield."

I can't tell you how many times I have heard it, "Decolonialization is not a metaphor." This Trojan Horse ideology has infected campuses all over America and this is what it looks like in Virginia.

Stick around as we look at next week's event at UVA, how Decolonization creates Title VI complaints, and national security concerns related to this! 🧵 Next Friday, The Center for Teaching Excellence at UVA is hosting University of Memphis professor and activist Amanda Lee Keikialoha Savage. As you can see, she will be holding at a seminar and doing a workshop as well. Both of these events are not open to the public.

As you heard in the intro video, UVA's Professor King said, "Challenge what the settler state, the settlement of, the University of Virginia that we're on, which is still a plantation and has all of its plantation artifice up, right, and artifacts. I'm trying to really ride the wheels off of these institutional resources, and go for broke."

Decolonial theorists actually see the university itself as a form of colonization. Frantz Fanon said, "Colonialism is a psychic and epistemological process as much as a material one."

These academic activists see the university as a seat of power that continues to perpetuate inequality, exploitation, and colonial legacies. They believe the university doesn't prioritize Indigenous, Black, and marginalized voices and overly values Western epistemologies as the dominant knowledge systems.

What do you seriously think is going to happen during this talk at a university founded by Thomas Jefferson?

I have this archived just in case UVA deletes it -> cte.virginia.edu/programs/cte-s…

Some of Mahmoud Khalil's lawyers are from CUNY CLEAR. If only someone had been recording them for the past few years. Oh wait, that person was me.

Here is one of Mahmoud Khalil's lawyers, Shazza Abboushi Dallal, from a CUNY CLEAR training that I snuck into and recorded.

"Another question: what if somebody just pretends complete ignorance to Hamas, don't know what you're talking about.

So I think this question is really like Yeah, I, I would answer the same way. I mean, first of all, saying I don't know when you do know, or feigning ignorance when that's not the reality, could be construed as a misrepresentation or a lie, and you find yourself in the sort of situation that you wanna avoid that we were speaking about earlier of criminal and potential immigration consequences flowing.

And that's why, you know, silence is just, is better. Better and more protective for you."

I can't tell you how many of these sorts of trainings I have attended where legal clinics like CUNY CLEAR urged foreign student activists to be smarter about what they said publicly. They knew this day could come one day. It is here now. The Legal Rights teach-in where these videos came from can be found here, and I think many would be served in watching it. You will realize quite quickly that Khalil has most certainly violated immigration law and the terms of his residency here in the United States.

"We want to make sure you know [about things that] will create risks for you if you're not a citizen, so that's inciting, advocating, or declaring public approval or support for terrorist activity..."

Teach-in ➡️x.com/thestustustudi…

🚨Deport Momodou Taal🚨

President Trump just signed an executive order that would instruct federal agencies to cancel the student visas of all Hamas sympathizers on college campuses.

Cornell graduate student, instructor, and activist Momodou Taal has gotta go! 🧵 If you have been following me for some time, you know that I sit in on all these various activist teach-ins and seminars. After Taal was almost deported last year, he became a hot commodity and started to show up in teach-ins.

I first ran into him during a call hosted by the Young Democratic Socialists of America and Students for Justice in Palestine.

This video is from October 6, 2024.

Yesterday at the University of Notre Dame, @GovRonDeSantis discussed why college campuses in Florida were not plagued with student encampments.

"If any of our universities turned into Columbia, the university president would lose their job the next day. It would be done. We would not ever tolerate the inmates running the asylum."

DeSantis spends a few minutes examining the claim that Palestine is "occupied" to expose how pro-Palestine clichés "betray their ignorance."

"If you find yourself out there saying somehow 'end occupation,' I would just like to know when there was some type of Palestinian [state]. I think it's all people that don't know their history. I think it's kind of like the Left Wing Cause Du Jour." This allowed DeSantis to discuss how students who claim Gaza is occupied are "never challenged on their assumptions."

He goes on to discuss how conservative students on campus "learn how to make arguments, you learn how to marshal evidence, you learn these things because no one on a university campus is just going to accept conservative assumptions about any of these issues without a fight."

DeSantis talks about initiatives in Florida that foster civil discourse and free debate.

"I want all of our students to have their assumptions questioned."

"You learn the most when you're given a topic and you have to argue on the side that you actually disagree with."

DeSantis discusses the cold reality of the cost you have to pay to stand up for these issues on campus, but he believes that "the only way for bad to triumph is for good people do nothing."

He wraps up by discussing how he has friends who he disagrees with politically and are able to maintain friendship. However, the Governor notes that he thinks Leftism is a religion for some and that is why people get "disowned for supporting conservative causes." DeSantis think that is dangerous for the country and we need more bipartisan comradery.